Senior National Snooker Championship: Double delight for Pankaj Advani

January 25, 2015

Kolkata, Jan 25: Pankaj Advani added one more title to his glittering career when he eased past an inexperienced Varun Madan 6-3 to win the Senior National Snooker Championship at the Bengal Rowing Club on Saturday.

Snooker Championship

24-year-old Delhi lad Madan, who made his maiden senior national final from the qualifiers, won the third, fifth and seventh frames to make it 3-4.

However, the 12-time world champion Advani was unstoppable from there on as he did not give Madan any chance, winning the eighth frame by posting a 74 break before clinching the issue in the next with an 81 break with the final scoreline reading 83(45)-15, 73(54)-35, 27-86(57), 79(47)-00, 13-87(62), 76(70)-35, 48-72, 74(74)-00, 96(81)-09.

Terming the seventh frame loss a 'wake-up call', Advani said: "I just smiled at it and told myself 'it's part of the game... Just pick up the next frame and once it become 5-3 he will be under more pressure as I needed just one more frame'."

The 29-year-old Bangalore ace cueist, who had won the senior national billiards last week, thus capped a memorable two-week stint in Kolkata winning his fourth double, first since 2009.

"With each passing year, I feel to achieve the double is becoming tougher with so many specialists in either billiards or snooker. But I'm somewhere in between. I'm glad that I remained unbeaten," Advani said after clinching his seventh senior national title.

Advani also has seven senior national billiards titles, taking the total count to 26 in all age groups. Playing in both the formats for last two weeks had been quite hectic and Advani said he was looking forward to take some rest now.

"I think I played much better today. I was fresher, it was just one match today. I had time to recover. I've been playing billiards and snooker for the last two weeks and I was reaching a stage where I wanted to take some time off the game. I'm glad I can do it now," he said.

Showering praise on Madan, Advani said the Delhi lad would be tough to beat once he becomes smart tactically.

"We've been good friends, we used to hang out in England. I'm very happy for him for making his maiden final. He'll have really good years of snooker. This will be a learning experience him.

"He was not experienced as Dharminder Lilly (in the semis), so was not able to trouble me tactically. I thought his attacking play was phenomenal. I think once he steps up his tactical side he'll be tough to beat," said Advani.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Jun 9: Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has released a video, alleging racism within the SunRisers Hyderabad camp. Last week, Sammy had lost his cool after learning the meaning of the word "Kalu", which he alleged was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with the SunRisers Hyderabad. The T20 World Cup-winning Windies skipper had said that he along with Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera were sometimes called that word when they played for SunRisers Hyderabad. However, Sammy did not specify as to who directed these slurs at him, but now the player has released a video, saying he will message all those who called him that word.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn''t know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

"Now, I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or form? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to you call me with that word, think about it, let's have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed," he added.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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